The Coroner is an elected public official who is authorized by Walla Walla County, Washington, to investigate sudden, unexpected, violent, suspicious, or unnatural deaths. The purpose of the Coroner is to investigate those deaths which are of concern to the public health, safety, and welfare.

The office and function of the Coroner are established by the Revised Code of Washington (RCW), Chp. 68.08. This chapter of the RCW delineates which classes of deaths are to be investigated and is further discussed in Chapter 1.

There are several reasons why an accurate determination of cause and manner of death is essential to our society: 1) The innocent shall be exonerated; 2) Murder shall be recognized; 3) Criminal and civil court preceding will be provided with documented, sound and impartial medical evidence; 4) Unrecognized hazards to public health shall be exposed, To this end the Coroner assumes jurisdiction over the human remains and after thorough investigation determines the cause and manner of death.